


He Didn't Save Her, She Did

by nakedrednailpolish



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Jealousy, Swan Queen Week, Swan Queen Week 2015, Swan-Mills Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-13
Updated: 2015-07-13
Packaged: 2018-04-09 03:46:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4332654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nakedrednailpolish/pseuds/nakedrednailpolish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Storybrooke throws a party at Granny's to celebrate Regina and Emma's success in defeating the Dark One's curse. Emma gets cozy with her pirate; Regina gets jealous.<br/>Written for Swan Queen Week 5, Day 2: Jealousy</p>
            </blockquote>





	He Didn't Save Her, She Did

            Regina stepped out of the Benz with lasagna in hand. There was an audible rumble coming from Granny’s, indicating that the party had just started.

            Glancing across the street, she identified Emma’s yellow bug. The color was disgusting, and the vehicle looked like it would fall right off its wheels if it braked too hard, but Regina had grown a sort of fondness for it after both of their road trips – one in search of Lily, who possessed Emma’s share of darkness, and one in search of Merlin, who possessed the power to remove Emma’s darkness.

            She noticed some movement within the vehicle, and realized that Emma must have also just arrived. Approaching the vehicle, she figured the two of them would be able to walk in together, like the team they had become as a result of this operation. The brunette leaned down and tapped on the driver’s side window.

            Sudden movement rattled the car, and Regina wondered if it would fall off of its wheels right _now_. After a few seconds, Emma’s face appeared at the window, hair slightly ruffled as she smiled and opened the car door.

            “Oh, hey, Regina,” she greeted, voice somewhat breathy.

            Regina didn’t seem to notice. “Good evening, Emma. I saw you over here and figured we could walk in together.”

            Emma’s eyes went wide. “You _saw_ us?” She turned to look inside the car, and that was when Regina discovered that Emma had not arrived alone.

            Hook grumbled from the passenger seat. “I hope we didn’t alarm you, Madame Mayor.” He readjusted his black leather jacket before kissing Emma on the cheek and climbing out of the car on his side.

            All of a sudden, everything made sense. Emma’s ruffled hair, her breathy voice, the rattling of the car, Hook – all of the evidence came together; they had been making out.

            Backing up instantly, Regina began to mumble apologies. “I’m sorry; I didn’t realize you were –”

            “Regina, watch out!”

            Emma lunged forward, grabbed Regina’s free hand, and yanked her towards the bug. The oncoming car swerved, just missing the brunette as it laid on the horn and continued driving.

            Regina looked down at their connected hands and swallowed a shaky breath. “Yes, I… I’m fine. Thank you.”

            The blonde squeezed her palm slightly as she offered a small smile. “Any time.”

            When Emma let go, Regina’s stomach twisted at the loss of contact. She drew in a sharp breath; luckily, Emma and Hook assumed it was shock from nearly getting hit by a car. Regina gestured to the diner.

            “Shall we?”

            Emma nodded, and Hook rounded the front of the car to escort his girlfriend across the street. Regina eyed their linked arms, both clad in leather, and watched as the two strode ahead of her, fitting together like puzzle pieces. She ordered her feet to move and followed the couple into the diner.

            *

            “A toast,” David announced from his perch on the table, “to my daughter, Emma, who was able to find Merlin and defeat the curse of the Dark One.”

            “To Emma!” echoed the diner patrons. Fifty hands lifted into the air, fifty glasses clinked together, and fifty heads tilted back to sip their drinks. Emma squeezed Killian closer, the two sharing a slow kiss after they’d toasted. Regina drank to her friend, eyes never leaving the happy couple.

            “And,” Snow added, joining David where he stood on the table; Granny glared at them, surely not pleased about the dirt they were tracking onto her furniture. Snow didn’t seem to notice as she continued, “To Regina, without whom we would not have our daughter back, free of dark magic.”

            Regina lifted her eyebrows in surprise, confused and grateful for recognition, even if it was from the two idiots. She nodded her thanks as the diner exclaimed, “To Regina!”

            As she sipped her wine, her gaze returned to Emma, who had stopped making out with her pirate and was now smiling back at her in gratitude. They shared a moment, locking eyes from across the diner, words and memories flashing between them. Then Hook nibbled on Emma’s ear, drawing her attention away from Regina and back to him. Their lips met, Emma turning so her blonde locks hid their kisses from onlookers. Killian’s hook skimmed along the back of her leather jacket. _How can that be comfortable?_ Regina thought. _He doesn’t even have a fucking hand!_

            Emma didn’t seem to mind though; not breaking their make-out session, she leaned forward to set her glass on the table, then brought her hand up to caress Hook’s face. He reciprocated by bringing up his real hand to run his fingers through her hair.

            Regina swallowed and looked into her glass. She knew Emma had missed her boyfriend. She knew that the two cared for each other and had some catching up to do, and she knew she had to respect that. But something within her ached as the blonde toasted Regina, the woman who saved her from the Dark One’s curse, while sitting in her boyfriend’s lap.

            “Hey, Mom,” a voice said. She turned her attention to the teenage boy at her side.

            “Hi, Henry,” she got up from her bar stool and pulled him into a warm hug.

            “Thanks for letting me help set up. Gramps couldn’t organize a party if his life depended on it, and Grandma was busy with Uncle Neal.”

            “Yes, you told me sweetheart. You did a great job with everything.” She gazed down at the centerpieces that lined the bar: small rocks with plastic swords broken in half and glued onto them, to reference their travels. Regina picked one up and turned it around in her hand. “I like these.”

            Henry smiled, proud, and said, “Thanks, Mom.” He climbed up onto the stool beside her as Ruby set down a hot chocolate in front of him.

She patted his shoulder and smiled, though her son noticed that it didn’t reach her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

            Regina dropped her gaze from his eyes to her hands, which she’d folded in front of her. “I’m fine, Henry.” She met his eyes again. “Really.”

            “No, something’s off.” He lowered his voice. “Is it because of Robin?”

            She bit her cheek, remembering how he’d left her as she scoured though papers and books on Camelot and the Dark One’s curse. How he yelled about the time she spent in her crypt instead of with him. How he’d accused her of neglecting their relationship – not that the allegation was untrue – and how he’d taken Roland and baby Marian and rejoined his Merry Men in the woods. She’d called him again and again to apologize, to tell him that she really did love him, to tell him that this was only for a little while, until she could save Emma, but he never picked up. And so Regina had given up on their relationship, and her happiness, once again.

            “Henry, that was weeks ago. I’m… over it.” Her gaze flicked to the couple now making bunny noses in the booth across the room. Henry caught the motion, though, and turned to see who she was looking at.

            “Emma,” he identified matter-of-factly. “You’re jealous.”

            “What?” she said, recoiling. “I’m not jealous.”

            Henry raised his eyebrows knowingly, sticking his finger into the whipped cream and sucking it off.

            “Really, I’m not. Emma and that promiscuous pirate can do whatever they’d like. Their relationship does not concern me.” She took another gulp of alcohol, trying to be discreet in checking on them yet again.

            “Right.” Henry flashed a knowing smirk as he stared over the bar and sipped drink. “Look, I know I wasn’t there when you saved her, but people talk. I know what happened. You should tell her how you feel.”

            Regina ran a finger along the heel of her glass. “Henry, I can’t do that. I can’t destroy her happiness for the sake of mine.”

            “But she already sacrificed her happiness for yours.”

            “Yes, but that didn’t make me happy. And I don’t want to keep her from something that makes her happy, especially after what she did for me.”

            Henry took another long swallow of hot chocolate. “But this is something that could make you _both_ really, really happy.”

            Regina finished her drink and set it on the counter, signaling Ruby for another fill. “Listen to me. I don’t have feelings for your mother. She is with Hook, and _he_ makes her happy. And I’m not going to ruin that for her so that we could get together.”

            Henry shrugged, downing the rest of the hot drink and wiping the remnants from his mouth with his sleeve. “All I’m saying, is that it would be okay if you did.” With that, he got up from his seat and joined Nick and Ava near the front of the diner.

            She eyed her son, nursing her now-full glass of wine. He really was too wise for his age. Taking a sip, she continued to discreetly watch Emma and the handless wonder make out. Even when they weren’t kissing, she still sat in his lap, one arm wrapped around his shoulders and neck, the other clutching her own glass of wine. Every now and then, the two women would lock eyes from across the room before quickly looking away and, unbeknownst to the other, taking a long swig of alcohol.

            Eventually, Regina had had enough of Snow’s endless ramblings and Emma and Hook’s incessant touching and kissing. She finished off her fourth – or was it her fifth? – glass of wine before gathering up her coat and scarf and heading for the door.

            The outside of the diner was much quieter than the inside, where buzzing and occasional guffaws of laughter from partygoers could be heard. Regina wrapped her scarf more efficiently around her neck as she contemplated whether she was sober enough to drive home.

“Wait,” Emma called from the stairs. Regina halted her steps, took a deep breath, and turned to find bright emerald eyes meeting her own.

            When Emma didn’t say anything more, Regina waited a few seconds before replying, “Yes, Emma?”

            The blonde swallowed, looking at her hands and remembering why she had followed Regina outside. “You… forgot your lasagna dish.” She descended the few steps to the ground and stuck out the glass pan for Regina to take. Their fingers brushed against each other as the brunette took the dish from her hands.

            “Thank you,” Regina said. The two stared at each other for a moment, dark brown meeting vibrant green, before Regina said, “I should probably get going,” though she made no move to leave.

            Emma looked at the plate in Regina’s hands, empty of food save the stains of red sauce and bits of leftover meat. She licked her lips and met those brown eyes again. “There’s… uh… there’s cake inside. If you want a piece.” She wrung her hands together, desperately wanting Regina to stay longer but unsure of how to convince her.

            Clutching the dish more tightly, the brunette bit her cheek. She appreciated Emma’s invitation, but couldn’t stop thinking about the blonde’s hands wrapped around her lover, a metal hook gently skimming red leather, their bodies snuggled up against each other…

            “I think it would be best if I went home,” she replied politely. Giving a curt nod in Emma’s direction, she turned to leave again.

            “Regina!” Emma interrupted, quickly reaching for the brunette’s forearm to keep her within reach. Confused, Regina stared at the contact before meeting the blonde’s eyes.

            “Emma,” she returned softly.

            Fidgeting in place, Emma licked her lips.

            “Please? I don’t want you to go yet.”

            Regina’s heart warmed at the admission, but she reminded herself of why she was leaving.

            “Yes, well… you probably won’t miss me. You’ve been getting quite cozy with your boat boy in there. I wouldn’t want to interrupt that.” She tried to walk away, but Emma’s grip on her arm remained firm.

            “You were watching us?”

            “Well, dear, it is _your_ party. It was pretty hard to miss.” Regina’s eyes flicked down to the blonde’s lips, the ones that had been latched onto that pirate, before meeting her eyes again.

            “It’s _your_ party, too. You… you saved my life. I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t.” She put her free hand over Regina’s, which still clutched the lasagna dish. “Please stay.”

            Regina stared, trying to decipher what Emma was playing at. Why would Emma invite her back in if she was only going to sit down with her boyfriend again? After everything the Savior and the Queen had gone through, Regina didn’t think she could handle any more of second place.

            “I… I can’t,” she stammered, so contradictory of her usual regal self.

            Emma’s eyes tracked downward in disappointment as she took in Regina’s answer, lingering on the hands that melded together on the handle of the pan.

            “Oh,” she mumbled. “Okay.” She moved her hand away, the other still resting on Regina’s forearm. “Thanks for coming,” she whispered.

Regina was about to move away when she felt Emma’s lips on her cheek, leaving a chaste kiss in their wake. “And thank you for saving my life.”

            When Emma pulled away, Regina blinked. And blinked again. And maybe the alcohol in her system was egging her on, but she realized she was done playing games.

            She sighed. “Damn it, Emma.” And then the lasagna dish was being set aside on a table and Regina’s lips were pressing against Emma’s, and her hands were tangling themselves in long blonde locks, and there was a warm, pleasant feeling in her head, in her heart, and between her legs, and Emma’s lips were so, so soft. And then she panicked for a moment because Emma hadn’t reacted yet.

            But suddenly strong hands were gripping her waist, and Emma was kissing back.

            Regina’s actions in Camelot had been of official True Love, but neither woman had wanted to acknowledge it. They had returned to Storybrooke without a mention of what had happened. Emma had a boyfriend. It was him that she was supposed to end up with. They tried to ignore it, but their love was inevitable; their feelings grew, gnawing at them constantly as the women denied what those feelings meant.

            It should have been obvious. Emma, willing to sacrifice herself to the Dark One’s curse for Regina’s happiness, was saved by the brunette, whose heroic actions would have demonstrated their strong connection even if they hadn’t confirmed True Love. They were willing to do anything for each other, even sacrifice their own lives so that the other would live.

            Regina moaned as she drew her hands to cup Emma’s face, and the women drew apart slightly to digest what had happened.

            “Did you just…?”

            “Yes,” Regina breathed, brushing her thumb along Emma’s cheek. “Is Hook…?”

            “No,” Emma responded, placing one hand between the Queen’s shoulder blades and pressing her closer. “That was temporary. I want you.” They connected again, pale lips colliding with bright red. “Why?” she asked between kisses. “Jealous?”

            Regina bent back her head as her scarf was pushed aside and Emma’s lips trailed down her neck. “Yes,” she whispered. “Very much.”

            Emma’s hands traced Regina’s spine as she pulled her even closer. "Good," she muttered, pecking Regina on the mouth.


End file.
